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Bali Governor Calls for Religious Rituals at Lion Air Crash Site to Cleanse Area and Restore Cosmic Balance

(4/19/2013) A traditional Bali-Hindu religious ceremony will soon be conducted close to the location where Lion Air Flight JT 904 crashed into the ocean in Bali on Saturday, April 13, 2013.

According to the State News Agency Antara, the ceremonies are dictated by local beliefs that religious rituals must be undertaken at locations wherever tragedies or calamities occur.

Bali’s governor, Made Mangku Pastika, while attending religious ceremonies in North Bali, declared his desire to undertake Hindu-Bali rituals in connection with the Lion Air crash site.

Explained Pastika, “(Bali’s) Religious Leaders have certainly thought about this (the ceremonies) because the belief of the people are especially strong in addressing the physical and metaphysical worlds, mandating that whenever a tragedy occurs rituals must be held .”

Local beliefs demand that balance be maintained between the physical and metaphysical in order to ensure peace and harmony be maintained between Bhuana Agung (macrocosm) and Bhuana Alit (microcosm).

Although no loss of life occurred in the mid-afternoon crash of the Lion Air aircraft, the Balinese believe that even when a near-tragedy occurs, the community is obligated to undertake ceremonies that will restore balance to the cosmos.

Because of this, Pastika has issued instructions to Hindu religious leaders in Bali for ceremonies to be held that will cleanse the crash scene of Lion Air JT903 on Segera Beach in Kuta.